1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interlocking device for drawers. In particular, the present invention is related to an anti-disengagement device for two or more drawers by which the unopened drawer or drawers may keep in a closed state while one of the drawers is opened.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, for a long period of time, drawers have been used for storing articles. Because the drawers can be selectively opened or closed individually, they are widely utilized in furniture, an office desk, file cabinet, and etc. In order to save the available space, it is known to arrange several drawers vertically and this kind of arrangement can be frequently seen in a file cabinet or an office desk.
The traditional structure of a drawer is provided with a stationary guide at an inner wall thereof and a movable guide is detachably fixed to an outer wall thereof engaged with the stationary guide. The movable guide may have bearings to improve the smoothness of moving while the drawer is opened or closed. In addition, two movable guides can be mounted with an extended sliding distance such that a pulled distance of the drawer can be lengthened and the deeper part of the drawer is accessible.
This arrangement of multiple drawers has a disadvantage that one of these drawers being opened may cause the rest to move outward unintentionally. In order to avoid the undesirable movement of drawers, an interlocking device was developed accordingly.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,778, which is granted to Lammens, discloses an interlocking device provided with two followers at the outer end of a channel. These two followers are pushed to move upward and downward respectively by an end part at the front of the drawer such that followers on drawers directly above and below the drawer respectively are pushed to reduce the distance between followers. Thus, each drawer may be prevented from opening and a function of interlock can be performed. However, the device disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,778 is sophisticated in structure so that it is very time consuming during making and assembling the interlocking device.
The main object of the present invention is to provide an interlocking device for drawers, which not only offers a simple structure but also performs an excellent function to prevent drawers from opening.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an interlocking device for drawers, which is suitable for two or more drawers.